Before the Covid-19 pandemic Steph Rodriguez, from Liverpool, worked in childcare and in bars. Fast forward five years and she is now one of gas network Cadent’s lead engineers, with a critical role in keeping millions of people safe and warm in their homes. This International Women in Engineering Day (23 June), she hopes sharing her story will inspire more women to consider a career in engineering.

Steph’s remarkable career-change story is highlighted this week as part of a campaign to inspire and encourage more women to become engineers.

This Sunday (23 June) is International Women in Engineering Day, an annual celebration of the amazing work of women engineers across the world.

It is also an opportunity to spotlight engineering as a great career choice for women.

Steph Rodriguez hopes to inspire more women to become engineers

placeholder image — Steph Rodriguez hopes to inspire more women to become engineers

According to research, just 16.5 per cent of engineers in the UK are women.

“I think it’s a lot to do with how engineering is promoted in schools,” said Steph, 31, from Mossley Hill in Liverpool.

“If you’re hands-on, you tend to be guided towards the likes of food technology or childcare.

“I didn’t really know engineering was an option.

“But it suits me down to the ground.

“I like a challenge, problem solving, and figuring things out.

“No two days are the same and that’s what makes it great.”

Steph is the middle child of five and, after leaving high school, worked in childcare – including a year working as a holiday club children’s rep in Spain – as well as managing and working in bars that her family owned.

As Covid-19 severely impacted that industry, Steph looked for new options.

Encouraged by her uncle and cousin, who both worked for Cadent, she applied for an apprenticeship with the gas network.

She was successful in getting onto an Energy Operations apprenticeship and found herself one of only a few women on the programme and one of the oldest (at 27).

But from day one she has felt at home – and is keen to encourage more women to follow in her footsteps.

“About 80 per cent of the training was ‘on patch’ – learning how the gas network operates, supported by experienced mentors. The other 20 per cent was classroom work,” said Steph. “I just threw myself into it and I loved it.”

Now Steph is part of a team which inspects and maintains hundreds of pressure management stations across the North West region. These are essential to the gas network, helping distribute gas at safe pressures to more than 2.7 million homes, schools, hospitals, industry, offices, and other sites from Windermere to Crewe.

Cadent’s future talent programme offers a range of tailored training programmes and apprenticeships for anyone looking to start a career in engineering. To learn more about these and careers for qualified engineers, visit careers.cadentgas.com.

Hilary Buxton is Director of Engineering at Cadent. She said: “More than 30 of the 100 engineers in my immediate team are women, and we have seen a 30 per cent increase in female applications to our future engineering programme. We are making great progress where the environment we have created enables women to thrive.”

Cadent employs around 1,200 people in the North West. It is responsible for maintaining and upgrading more than 21,000 miles of (mostly) underground gas distribution pipes and providing a 24/7, 365-days-a-year gas emergency service.